File-swap suits strike a nerve

roundup The major record labels have filed a series of landmark lawsuits against 261 alleged music pirates. Now comes the hard part--proving the case amid a tangle of Net accounts and privacy complaints.

P2P group: We'll pay girl's RIAA bill
A Grokster-backed peer-to-peer trade group has offered to cover costs for a 12-year-old girl who agreed to pay record labels $2,000 to settle a file-swapping suit.
September 10, 2003

Swapper amnesty offer challenged
An RIAA program that lets people avoid legal action by stepping forward and forfeiting traded songs is "misleading and fraudulent," according to a suit filed by a California resident.
September 10, 2003

RIAA seeks to alter file-trading culture
The recording industry's first wave of lawsuits against alleged music pirates is changing the legal landscape--but can it manage to crush interest in file trading?
September 10, 2003

Industry group settles with 12-year-old girl
One day after suing 261 alleged file swappers, the recording industry settles its case against a 12-year-old girl for $2,000.
September 9, 2003

Will file traders face the music?
As emerging details cast defendants as parents of Kazaa-loving children or as unwitting targets, some RIAA suits may turn out to be more complicated than they appear.
September 9, 2003

RIAA sues 261 file swappers
The Recording Industry Association of America files suit against alleged file swappers, charging them with "egregious" copyright infringement potentially worth millions of dollars.
September 8, 2003

File-swapping lawsuits: Are you next?
A step-by-step look at how the major U.S. record labels find, investigate and sue file-swappers through RIAA activities.
September 8, 2003

Related coverage
Piracy investigator lauds Australia case
An Australian case in which three men pleaded guilty to online music piracy has "exploded many of the myths" that relate to copyright infringement, an investigator asserts.
September 8, 2003

RIAA turns down some heat on file sharers
The music industry trade group is offering an amnesty program to some individuals who are involved in the illegal sharing of copyrighted music files online, according to reports.
September 5, 2003